(^32) Streaming
Vivarium
Dir:LorcanFinnegan(1hr38mins)(15)
★★★
A“comichorrorparable”aboutthestultifying
effectsofsuburbanlife,directorLorcan
Finnegan’s“highlyentertaining”filmhas
one“insidious”jokewhichitdevelopswith
“monomaniacalintensity”,saidPeterBradshaw
inTheGuardian.Ourprotagonistsareayoung
couplehopingtogetonthepropertyladder,
Tom(JesseEisenberg)andGemma(Imogen
Poots),whoaretakentovisitanewhousing
developmentnamedYonderbyasinisterestate
agent.It’sa“bizarre,TrumanShow-esque
world”,an“obviouslydigitalised”landscapeof
empty,identicalhouses–andwhentheytryto
leaveit,theyfindthat,formysteriousreasons,
theycannot.TheskyinYonderisalwaysbright
andclear,foodhasnotaste,andonthesecond
dayoftheirimprisonment,aboxappearswith
ababyinside.“Raisethechild,andbe
released,”readsanoteonitslid.
Thefilmis“wellcrafted”–buthackneyed,
saidTomShoneinTheSundayTimes.Who’d
nothave guessed, forinstance, thatthechild
mightgrowatanacceleratedrateandbecome
creepilymalevolent? The premise isfrankly
“ridiculous”, saidKevinMaherin TheTimes,
butthemovieisredeemedbyPootsand
Eisenberg’s“effortlesslyempatheticand
convincing”performances.And then there is
the remarkabletimelinessofitsrelease: afilm
aboutafamilytrappedin their own homecould
hardlyfeel more “now”.Vivariumhas “justthe
rightbalanceof drama,commentaryand
credibility”to makegoodviewinginthese
extraordinarytimes.Available fromBFIPlayer
(player.bfi.org.uk)and other majorplatforms.
ThePerfect Candidate
Dir:Haifaaal-Mansour(1hr44mins)(PG)
★★★★
In2012,Haifaa al-Mansour becamethe first
Saudi womantodirectafeaturefilm.Wadjda
toldthestory ofaten-year-old girlwho longsto
ownabicycle–and inThePerfectCandidate,
shefocusesonanother “single-minded”
protagonistatloggerheadswiththe patriarchy,
said ClarisseLoughreyinThe Inde pendent.
Maryam(Milaal-Z ahrani) isadoctorwho
decidestorun forlocal governmentin suburban
Riyadh.She doesn’t seeherselfasa“pioneer” –
she just wantstoget th edangerouslymuddy
roadoutside herhospitalpaved –but to the
people around her, only hergenderisi mportant
(evenherown sister whines about the scandal
she’ll cause). Al-Mansour’s approachis
“forthright”,like Maryamhers elf –and both
ens urethe film doesnot “wallowindespair”.
Thereare too many“rote”scenes i nwhich
“aninitially faltering Maryam findsher v oice
andearns respect”, said Wendy IdeinThe
Observer.Still ,it’s quiteakick when she
“stomps intoameeting ofdreadful menand
douses theminshrivellingdisdain”.Ifound a
lot morethan thattoenjoy in thisgripping and
amusing film,said Robbie CollininThe Daily
Telegraph. Al-Zahrani dextrouslybalances
“fury” and “decorum”inher performance, and
the filmoffers a“richly absorbing” portraitof
Saudisociety.AvailablefromBFI Pl ayer
(player.bfi.org.uk),aswell as CurzonHome
Cinema andModernFilms.
Also winning plaudits this weekwasTogo,
Disney’snew live-actionadventureabout a
Siberianhusky which, with hisowner(Willem
Dafoe), madeaperilous journey acrossthe
Alaskan wildernessin 1925todelivermedicine
to thediphtheria-struck residentsof Nome.
Availablefrom Disney+ (disneyplus.com).
BestTVseries New releases to watch at home
Thelockdowngivesmanyof
usthebestexcusewe’veever
hadtobingeonTVboxsets.
Hereareafewofthebest
fromthepastdecadeyou
might havemissed.
Giri/HajiABritishdetective
showsetpartlyinJapan,with
plentyofsubtitled,Japanese
dialogueandaninterpretive
balletforaclimax,thisBBC
co-productionwasnever
goingtobeaneasysell.Butit
isathingofbeauty,bursting
withbrilliantcharacters,from
kimono’dmafiadonsto
Japanese-speakingPeckham
rentboys.OnBBCiPlayer.
DetectoristsThis low-key
comedyfocusesonthe
friendshipbetweentwo
middle-aged metal
detectorists: lonely,laconic
Andy(MackenzieCrook)
andpuffed-upLance(Toby
Jones).Thepaceissnail-like,
thedialogue deadpan, the
comicchemistry near-perfect,
andtingedwithmelancholy.
OnBBCiPlayer.
The AmericansCreated
byformerCIAofficerJoe
Weisberg,thisspythriller is
aboutSovietsleeper agents
posingasahappilymarried
couple (Matthew Rhys
and KeriRussell)in
1980sWashingtonDC.
Theirmissionstosave the
motherlandare thrilling,but
sotooare theirdomestic
struggles.OnAmazon.
UndoneFromthecreator
ofBoJackHorseman,
Undoneis arotoscoped
comedy-drama abouta
cynical youngwoman who
findsshe has extraordinary
powers afteracar accident.
Served up in20-minute
chunks, itis un like anything
else on TV,fullofhypnotic
imagery beneathwhich liesa
deepand simplehuman story.
On Amazon.
WistingNordicnoirisnow
acrowded subgenre, with
plentyofbig-hitters. Less
well known–but among
the strongest recent examples
–isthispolice procedural
aboutawidoweddetective
on thetrailofanAmerican
seria lkiller.On BBCiPlayer.
ThePerfectCandidate:“richlyabsorbing”
Nicole Taylor wrote the Bafta-
winning child-abuse drama
Three Girls,said Euan
Ferguson in The Observer.
Now, she is back with the
Glasgow-setThe Nest,
which promises to be both an
edgy thriller anda“pointed
exploration” of the rights and
wrongs of surrogacy. It stars
Sophie Rundle as well-heeled
Emily who, having struggled
for years to haveababy, asks
atroubled 18-year-old named Kaya (Mirren
Mack) to carry her last viable embryo, and pays
her, illegally, to do so. But can she be trusted?
Emily’s working-class husband (Martin
Compston) is doubtful.
Everything about Kaya “rings
alarm bells”, said Anita Singh
in The Daily Telegraph. We see
her brawling with her social
worker, and learn she has lied
about her criminal record. It’s
an “intriguing” first episode.
Ifeel it tries to cram in rather
too much, said Hugo Rifkind
in The Times. Still, whether its
about middle-class hypocrisy
or working-class desperation,
The Nestis worthalook –not
leas tfor Mack, who is “awesome”.
For something lighter,Feel Good(Channel 4)
is alesbian romcom series full of “beautifully
drawn” characters (FT), made by the Canadian
stand-up comedian Mae Martin.
The Nest:athrillerabout surrogacy and socialclass
Rundle and Mack
THE WEEK4April 2020
rick simeone
(Rick Simeone)
#1